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I find it a little frustrating when people trust someone they have never met, more than they trust me
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<p>While I don't disagree with your experience, there are several comments here that have precipitated some of our responses.</p>
<p>First of all, I know very few college freshman who know how to effectively assert themselves with medical professionals. It comes with maturity, time and experience. The OP expressed concern about it feeling overly excessive to ask for a second opinion from an outside source. A person should never feel that way. I've always been told it's a sign of a good physician who supports a second opinion.</p>
<p>Second, the OP is already at the point of talking about dropping classes, etc. before she even has an accurate diagnosis. That is a HUGE step to take, and she's considering it because she doesn't feel good, and has a limit on her physical resources for coping. Perhaps I am sensitive to this issue because my own daughter was not properly diagnosed with mono at the end of her freshman year. She had several known exposures in her sorority house, had ALL the classic symptoms, but the health center would not test her for it. She gave them permission to talk to me, and I couldn't convince them to test her for it (they insisted another virus was going around and that's what she had). So when she started to regain some health and strength in 2-3 weeks, and it was the end of the year, she joined in some partying that included alcohol. That, along with the stress of finals, packing and moving back home, within 8 hours of returning home, she was sicker than the first time. She went to our doctor the next day, they tested her and said she had obviously had mono and was now relapsing. She spent most of the summer recuperating, not being able to work and earn money. She put herself at risk for damage to her liver by not having the proper diagnosis the first time around. Had it been confirmed she had mono while at school, knowing my daughter, she would have taken every precaution known to recover from it more quickly. During that summer, I sent a letter to the medical director of the student health center, and never heard a word back from them. So I'm looking at the OP's situation of trying to be her own advocate, and comparing it to the situation with my daughter where an educated and assertive adult was trying to advocate for her, and it still didn't work. That's why I think so many of us here are trying to give the OP some support. And knowledge is power. Nothing we've said here might be the correct diagnosis, but when she starts to ask questions, it can open a dialogue between her and her health care provider. </p>
<p>Third, as adults and parents, most of us who have posted here have had personal experience (either ourselves or our children) with the symptoms the OP is having, and wish to share our knowledge. While this may be an overexaggeration, how many times do our news and talk shows run specials on diseases, and armed with this knowledge, people will go to their doctors with concerns that are correctly founded, and indeed they are diagnosed with something that might not have been caught earlier if they had not learned about it from a TV talk show?</p>
<p>Frankly, if I were sick for as long as the OP has been, when say, I was just starting a new job (after all, college is a job students have, only without the pay), I'd be very depressed and would be reaching for answers, too. I'd be talking with others about my options and seeking suggestions. For reasons stated earlier, the OP does not feel comfortable to confide in her own parents right now, but feels a need to reach outside her immediate environment for advice. In the OP, she specifically asks what to do.</p>
<p>From what I understand of student health centers is that the fees we pay don't nearly cover the costs of treatment (as you alluded to). When my own daughter had mono, they tested her for strep, but did the culture, not the rapid strep test - I've been told the culture is cheaper than the rapid strep. At my own doctor's office, if they have reason enough to test for strep, they're going to do both, and with my family, it's a good thing they have. </p>
<p>My experience so far has been that money speaks when it comes to treatment at student health centers, which is too bad. That is why it is that much more important for students to learn to become advocates for themselves... it's a learning process. Once the OP gets a definitive diagnosis, gets treated and feels better, I'm sure the next time she gets sick, she will have a plethora of experience and information under her belt to handle the situation differently. </p>
<p>You also have to remember that the first time a freshman gets sick at college, it's usually the first time they've had to seek medical treatment without the direct or indirect presence of a parent to be their advocate. It's more than just being sick, it's trying to figure out and learn the health care system, which at college, can be a world of difference than at one's own physician's officel.</p>